By Shannon Combs-Bennett, Student

The Family History Library (FHL) in Salt Lake City, Utah is one of those dream research locations for genealogists. Many people plan for years to take just one trip to this world famous library. Others are lucky enough to go on a regular pilgrimage to this repository. I thought having a section on researching in Salt Lake City was a wonderful addition to the Planning A Research Trip Including Preparing for Salt Lake City course. Once again, there are tips and tricks in there that I wish I had known about before I made my first, or even, last trip!

I have gone to the Family History Library (FHL)  twice, and I am getting ready to go for my third trip in February 2017.  In my past trips  I had only 1 day at the FHL, but this time I am excited to put what I learned in this course to good use and spend multiple days there.

When I  go also corresponds with the  RootsTech conference, so it is a crazy time in the area. Other times of the year are less packed, but at other times of the year you cannot run into so many people from the genealogy  community all doing what we love…research.  While my experiences may not match yours (from the past or in the future) I hope you can see why I think the last two modules of this  course are so valuable.

Not only do the course instructors walk the students through how to navigate the Library but also Salt Lake City and other facilities that are of importance to researchers.  Until this course I knew little about the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (JSMB).  The JSMB holds some records that are only found on microfilm at the FHL as well as having computers for research and places to eat.  The one thing I can vouch for is the JSMB café.  I ate there once and it was very, very good food for a reasonable price.

After these two blog posts I hope you will consider taking this course if you are preparing for a research trip.  The information contained was extremely informative, and no matter your level, very useful. Interested in hearing more about this course? I’ll be talking about this course and my Salt Lake City tips in a Virtual Meeting on Monday, January 9th at 12:00pm EST.

On that note I am off to spend the time I have left before RootsTech doing my research prep.  Say hi if you see me there, otherwise I will see you online!